Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69403 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
Model Railway Express (UK), Winter 2007
“Index: Excellent.”
 
Steam Railroad Magazine (UK), Winter 2007
“For devotees of transatlantic trains, it is an excellent gift.”
 
 Scale Rails, November 2007
“Railroads Across North America is an entertaining account of railroading in the US and Canada … An essential volume for hard-core railfans, casual enthusiasts and those interested in the central role that railroads have played in the history of a continent!”
 


Polish American Journal, November 2007
“Older readers will enjoy stoking the fires of their memory.  Younger readers will be amazed at the scope of railroads in American life.  All readers will find that the railroads of yesteryear are still here—both as preserved railways they can ride and in museums they can visit.”
 
Midwest Book Review/Wisconsin Bookwatch, November 2007
“Train travel enthusiast and photographer Claude Wiatrowski is … in a particularly knowledgeable position to crate a profusely illustrated history of American railroads and has done so with Railroads Across North America, an amazingly informed and informative 256-page compendium of information and images ranging from the first steam-powered locomotives of the 1800’s down to the high-speed commuter trains of today.”
         
Belfast
“For railroad enthusiasts, this is undoubtedly a collector’s item.”
Newsletter, Sept. 29, 2007

Sirreadalot.org, Sept. 15, 2007
“From the night of yester-year’s rail empires to the railroad’s current roles. The book is the fabulously colorful story of the industry that moved nations and stirred imaginations. In this authoritative volume, Wiatrowski leaves no stone unturned, presenting the railroad’s beginning, its evolving role in daily life, the technological marvels, and its intersections with popular culture.”

From the Inside Flap
In this lavish celebration of the glory and grandeur that are the great North American railroad, author Claude Wiatrowski examines the development of the industry with nearly 90 features covering more than three dozen railroads past and present, as well as dozens more subjects, including railroads in film and music, specialty railroads, life and travel on the rails, and much more.
Beginning with a few tentative steps in the 1820s and continuing through the robber barons, Depression, prosperity, and merger, right up to today’s rail renaissance, the railroad remains essential to North American industry and our everyday lives. Although the rich tapestry of iconic rail lines that once crisscrossed the continent has been merged, contracted, and otherwise cut down to more appropriate proportions, today’s rail industry continues the spirit of relentless technological innovation that has always been its hallmark, supported by seven robust “Class 1” railways, a host of thriving regional short lines, and renewed public interest in passenger transport.
Wiatrowski, a rail author and award-winning video producer, generously illustrates the text with an array of material, including vintage black-and-white and modern color photographs, period advertisements, maps, brochures, timetables, postcards, posters, menus, and other collectibles—nearly 600 pieces in all, many of them rarely seen! Also included are a list of Web resources and contact information for museums, preserved railways, and historic sites throughout the United States and Canada.
From the might of yesteryear’s rail empires to the railroad’s current roles, here is the fabulously colorful story of the industry that moved nations and stirs imaginations to this day.
 
 

From the Back Cover
From the first steam-powered locomotives of the early nineteenth century to today’s high-speed commuter trains, the North American railroad is a great engine powering growth and industry. In this authoritative volume, rail author and award-winning video producer Claude Wiatrowski offers a celebration befitting that legacy. Railroads Across North America is an entertaining account of railroading in the United States and Canada lavishly illustrated with vintage and modern photographs, period advertisements, maps, timetables, postcards, brochures, and more—nearly 600 images in all. Wiatrowski leaves no stone unturned, presenting the railroad’s beginnings, its evolving role in daily life, the technological marvels, and intersections with popular culture. The author also includes a list of Web resources and contact information for museums, preserved railways, and historic sites throughout the United States and Canada. An essential volume for hardcore railfans, casual enthusiasts, and those interested in the central role railroads have played in the history of a continent!
 

Customer Reviews

An ideal and enthusiastically recommended addition
Train travel enthusiast and photographer Claude Wiatrowski is a member of the Colorado Midland Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society; the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society; The Colorado Railroad Museum; The Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad; Friends of the East Broad Top; the Nevada Northern Railway Museum; the Pikes Peak Historical Street Railway Foundation; and the Lexington Group in Transportation History. He is therefore in a particularly knowledgeable position to create a profusely illustrated history of American railroads, and has done so with "Railroads Across North America: An Illustrated History", an amazingly informed and informative 256-page compendium of information and images ranges from the first steam-powered locomotives of the 1800s down to the high-speed commuter trains of today. Enhanced with a descriptive listing of historical societies and other railroad organizations, as well as a section devoted to preserved railways, museums and historic sites, ""Railroads Across North America" also includes a bibliography and a comprehensive index, making it an ideal and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library Railroading reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Railroads Across North America
Railroads Across North America is a unique book in this field. it illustrates in great color the historic rail lines that made America great. It also shows the breadth of railroad activites that were a part of operations. This book is just plain fun!

Bill Lock,
Founder Friends
of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad

Great for pros and newbies
Whether an a railfan for decades or just getting into the hobby, this is a great book. Copy is informative and not overdone. Photos and graphics are outstanding. Although my interest in railroading in the Northeast, I found the collection of schedule graphics, promotional pieces, etc. very interesting and, simply, just fun to look at. I lent my copy to a few of my buddies and was happy to see they didn't glance over the pages, but were caught by photos and info. (Hats off to the graphics people). And these are former railroaders and modelers who are "rivet counters," so for the book to get their attention says something about it. A few commented on the price, and thought the book was a real bargain.